Of Love and Hogwarts
by emerald yingfa5
Summary: Lily hates James, James loves Lily. She doesn't want to give him a chance. But why is she falling for him then? Crazy friends, pranks, & tradgedy. 6th yr. to end of 7th. ON HIATUS!
1. We're Home

**Hi! Emerald YingFa5 here! This is my first story ever and I appreciate all feedback and suggestions but not too many flames please. :) Thanks! And if there's anything in this story that's like other stories, it's merely COINCIDNENCE! And special thanks to my wonderful editor Rae! Also…**

**DISCLAIMER! I do not own Harry Potter (though I wish I did) but I do own Lina, Nicola, Laura, and Justin. NOW ON WITH THE STORY!**

A beautiful red head looked around the crowded train platform. 'I can't believe I'm already in sixth year…' she thought sadly. 'Only one more year until I graduate'

Lily Evans was a very beautiful girl. And very special. You see, unlike many girls her age, Lily was a witch. She even went to a school just for witches and wizards: Hogwarts. She had had gorgeous, wavy, red hair with natural highlight of faint gold throughout it that reached past her shoulders and beautiful emerald eyes. She was around 5"7 and very slim. She wore a pair of bell bottoms, one of the newest "muggle" fads, and a white peasant top. Even on the muggle side of the station, guys had been eyeing and staring at her.

"Lily! HURRY UP!" yelled one of Lily's friends.

With one last look of the platform, took her trunk and owl and got onto the Hogwarts Express. Lily followed her friend to their compartment they had used since first year. As soon as the girls got the door closed, they instantly began to talk about their summers and what they did. Lily had had a pretty boring summer, staying home and enduring her sister Petunia. Petunia and Lily had never been very close but ever since Lily found out she was a witch, Petunia hated and constantly called her a freak. Even though she was used to the insults by now, Lily couldn't help but be a little hurt by her sister's hateful words and actions towards her.

"Earth to Lily. You there?" Lily looked up seeing a hand waving back and forth in front of her face and realized she hadn't heard a word her friend had just said. "Sorry. What?"

"I said, doesn't Justin look great this year? Maybe he'll ask me out. I hope he does. I saw him looking at me on the platform and he's very popular…."

This came from one of Lily's best friends, Lina Hayes. Like Lily, Lina was also muggleborn or "mudblood" as the Slytherins liked to call them. Lina had semi wavy/semi straight dirty blond hair with streaks of blond that reached her shoulder though it was almost always in a ponytail. She had blue-grey eyes and was 5"8, making her the tallest of the girls and was a beater on the Gryffindor quidditch team. She was very energetic/hyper, a little crazy (especially over boys), and very friendly.

"Yeah, but just be a little careful. You know his reputation for being a player and having a lot of girlfriends. The last thing we need is you out for revenge on him for breaking your heart."

This came from Lily's other best friend, Nicola Powers. Nicola preferred to be called Nikki and had long straight blond hair and bright blue eyes. She was Lily's size, intelligent, and very friendly though also strict. Unlike Lily and Lina, she was pureblood but she, nor her family, cared about purebloods or half bloods and such. Nikki lived on a beautiful mansion due to her parents both working important positions in the Ministry of Magic. However, the girls rarely went there due to the fact that Nikki lived right next door to James Potter. James and Lily never did see "eye-to-eye" but more on that later.

Lina playfully slapped Nikki on the arm and relied, "Don't worry. I would NEVER go that far."

Lily replied thoughtfully, "What about that time where you set Will Hunter's robes on fire for cheating on you with that 6th year Hufflepuff?"

Nikki added on, "Or when you hexed Chris Stoner so he would be afraid of his own shadow because he broke up with you saying you were "too perky" for him?"

As Lina was about to respond, the compartment door opened to reveal Lily's final best friend, Laura Calloway.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to get past those stupid Marauders. They were picking on some first years." Laura said rolling her eyes.

Laura had long slightly curly brown hair reaching her mid-back, chocolate colored eyes, and was the shortest of the group at the height of 5"4. She, like Nikki, was pureblood but her parents were extremely strict about being seen with muggleborns in public. Laura's one favorite thing to do was to read and she would've liked to be a part of the quidditch team with Lina but she had a terrible fear of heights. Also, out of all the other girls, she was probably the most down-to-earth.

"Ugh. I don't how those prats even stay in school with all their pranks and detentions." Lily said icily.

"Maybe they bribe the teachers and Dumbledore to let them stay. You know 10 galleons a month or something like that. I mean, they certainly have the money to. Or maybe they use blackmail." Lina suggested.

Nikki nodded in agreement. "Knowing them, that's exactly what they would do."

As they continued complaining about the Marauders, the trolley lady came by. "Anything off the trolleys dears?"

Lina instantly jumped up, tool out some of her money, and grabbed all of her favorites. As, the trolley lady left, Nikki and Lily sighed exasperatedly at the armful of sweets and candies Lina had. "You know how unhealthy all that candy and sugar is?"

"But it's SOO GOOD!" Seeing the looks on her friend's faces, Lina gave candy to them as well while keeping a good amount for herself. "There. I'm not eating it all."

With that the girls went back to talking about their summers and what the new year at Hogwarts would bring. After a few hours, they changed into their robes and got ready for a new year. When the train stopped, the girls got off and saw the wonderful castle that was Hogwarts across the lake. Lily glanced at the others and they all smiled.

"We're home."

The girls made their way to the carriages, but Lina started to fall behind. She saw her new crush laughing with his friends right outside a carriage.

Justin Michaels.

Justin was a fifth year in Hufflepuff. He had brownish copper hair and brown-green eyes. He was popular, nice, but said to be (as Nikki stated), kind of a player. Lina however believed that if they ever went out, she could change him. Lina had first met him first year when he stuck up for her after being called a mudblood by the Slytherins.

Lina continued looking at him when he suddenly turned and saw her. He smiled at which Lina waved and smiled at him. She quickly turned and went to got catch up with her friends before they noticed she was gone.


	2. Dinner and a Prank

**It's me again. I'm bored so I decided to out up the second chapter. REMEMBER, I appreciate all feedback and suggestions and any similarities are COINCIDENCE!**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Harry Potter (though that would be totally awesome if I did…)**

A new year at Hogwarts was beginning. As everyone made their way into the Great Hall, they got to their tables and sat down. As Lily, Lina, Laura, and Nikki talked and got their seats at the Gryffindor table, they didn't notice the group of boys coming towards them.

The Marauders. The Marauders consisted of three boys. Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and James Potter. (A/N: I am NOT including Peter 'cause 1)I HATE HIS GUTS and 2)I really don't feel like putting him in) They were the resident pranksters at Hogwarts, usually targeting the Slytherins though also, younger students and sometimes the girls. The only real thing the two groups had in common was their hate for the Slytherins.

Remus Lupin had sandy colored hair and brown eyes and although he was quite pale and a little peaky at times, that didn't stop plenty of girls from liking him. Lily was actually quite good friends with Remus. He was intelligent, nice, and very charming. Lily honestly didn't know why he was a part of the Marauders. He was also a werewolf. He didn't know that she knew but she had figured it out in 4th year and although at first she had wanted to tell someone, she realized that Remus was still himself. It wasn't him that could kill others; it was the wolf inside him that was released.

Sirius Black on the other hand, was completely obnoxious along with being quite crazy at times and had long shaggy black hair reaching his neck and steel grey eyes. He ran through at least 5 girls a month and had dated more than half the girls in Hogwarts excluding Lily, Lina, Nikki, and Laura of course.

And then, there was James Potter. One of Lily's most hated persons and the ringleader of the Marauders. James had messy jet black hair that he made even messier by ruffling it and made it look like he'd just gotten off a broomstick and had hazel eyes. And was quite popular with the girls; he was kind of like Sirius but not as bad. As I've said, most girls fell for the Marauders at first sight but then again, Lily, Lina, Laura, and Nikki were NOT most girls (though they did admit they WERE quite handsome…ok. HOT! Though thev would never admit it to anyone.)

As the girls were talking, Lily suddenly heard that oh-so-familiar voice behind her.

"Alright Evans?"

The girls turned and glared at the Marauders. Lily said icily "What do you want Potter?" although she had an idea of what he wanted. 

"Well, would you care to go out with me sometime?"

It had started last year when she had tried to prevent Snape from humiliation from the Marauders when James had asked that question. Apparently, he still had the nerve to ask her.

Before Lily could even respond, Professor McGonagall came up. "Mister Potter, please get yourself seated. We are going to begin the sorting soon. That goes for you to Mister Black. Mister Lupin"

With that, Professor McGonagall left to get the first year. Before the Marauders went to sit, James turned back to Lily. "Think about it Evans." And the Marauders left quickly and sat down towards the front of the table just as the first years came in.

Then the sorting began. And for once in the 5 years she had been there, Lily was paying any attention. She was too busy fuming about Potter.

"The NERVE of him to come up to me and ask me out!"

James Potter was Lily's sworn enemy. She had hated him since he first played a trick on her in second year making her red hair turn a disgusting lime green with fire-engine red streaks and her skin purple. 'It's all just part of one of their pranks. Probably thinking, "Oh, let see how Evans likes going out with one of us only to have us embarrass her in front of the entire school."' she thought.

But she instantly paid attention once Dumbledore stood to do his beginning of the year speech.

"Hello. And welcome to Hogwarts, school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now I'm sure you are all anxious to have your dinner but our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you of some rules. First off, everyone is forbidden to enter the Forbidden Forest, thus the name. Also, magic in the hallways and corridors are not allowed." Dumbledore glanced at the Marauders who just smiled innocently. "When you enter your common rooms, there shall be a list of other rules on the bulletin boards. Anyone who does not obey these rules will get a detention. Also, it is recommended that you look at the boards every so often as there will be announcements posted and sometimes passwords to the common rooms may change. Now without further delay, tuck in."

With that, food on the table appeared out of nowhere and everyone began taking what they wanted and ate while some first years were looking at the food in shock of how it had just gotten there. Everyone was entirely happy and excited. However, excluding the Slytherins (of course), one certain messy black haired was not so.

James was completely nerve wracked. He didn't know why. He had asked plenty of girls out. And all had said yes. But he remembered last year when he had asked her out and, in front of a good amount of the 5th year class, she had straight out said no. He still remembered how he had felt sad for the rest of the day. Even after a good 15 minutes of torturing Snivellus (a.k.a. Snape).

Sirius sighed as he watched his best friend pick at his dinner. "Mate, relax. She'll say yes. After all, no one can resist us and our good looks." He turned and winked at a nearby Ravenclaw girl who instantly started giggling and turned around. "See?"

With that, Sirius grabbed some mashed potatoes and a drumstick off a nearby plate and started stuffing his mouth out. Remus rolled his eyes at the repulsive sight but remained silent.

James just nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Thanks Sirius. Anyway, we have to get the beginning of year prank done."

Sirius nodded in agreement enthusiastically. He loved beginning of year pranks. "Of course. Remus, you got the spells ready?" Sirius asked and both he and James looked at Remus.

Remus nodded. "Yes. And I think we should do it right before Dumbledore ends the feast and we get sent to our dorms."

James and Sirius nodded in agreement. "Yeah. We'll give everyone a good laugh before bed. Perfect way to start off the new year."

With that, the trio nodded and watched Dumbledore for the rest of the dinner, looking for any signs of him getting ready to stand. As soon as Dumbledore made to stand, the boys took out their wands, pointed them at the Syltherin table, and muttered the spells.

BOOM!

Everyone turned to the sound and after a moment of silence, there was laughter everywhere.

There at the Syltherin table, were all the Slytherins in pink, yellow, and green lacy dresses. To make it even better, Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape were waltzing on the table looked like they were about to make out what with them practically hanging on eachother. As everyone laughed, only Lily, Nikki, and Laura didn't laugh and just rolled her eyes. Meanwhile, Lina was on the floor crying from laughing so hard. Lily and the others knew she laughed at anything so they just ignored her.

After a few minutes, Professor McGonagall came up to the Marauders and gave them each stern looks.

"Potter. Black. Lupin. Come with me this INSTANT!"

The Marauders stood up grinning. They took a bow, and followed McGonagall out of the Great Hall each knowing perfectly well they in were in for a detention or two. As soon as they left, Dumbledore stood and dismissed everyone to go up to their common rooms following the prefects. Everyone got out of the Great Hall, entered their common rooms, and went straight to their rooms to get ready for the first day of classes and talk to their friends about what awaited them the next day.


	3. Author's Note

**Hi. I haven't updated due to a few reasons.**

**1) I've been in Colorado**

**2) I'm getting ready to go back to school (NOOOOO!)**

**3) I have a slight problem with my writing…It's HORRIBLE!**

**4) I'm trying to think of other ideas for a story**

**5) I know I may sound self absorbed, but I haven't gotten ANY reviews! **

** Due to this, I'll either delete the story all together and restart it with edits to it or I may just leave this story and work on other ones. I'm hoping that other stories will be good enough. I have a story I wrote the first chapter to and I have an idea for another LxJ story. If you want me to cont. with this story, please tell me. You can do so by going down to the review box on the bottom right hand corner and click review. Thanx.**


	4. No and Yo Mama

**Hey, me again. Thanks to the people who reviewed and told me to continue! ;) It really helped. And if there are any suggestions to anything I messed up, please tell me. Thanx! **

**PS: Just so you know, I've decided that Lily and Remus are actually friends and Lina gets along with just about everybody, even the Marauders. Kay? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter but I do own Lina, Laura, Nikki, and Justin**

Once the girls got into their room, they quickly put up pictures and posters of their favorite bands, quidditch teams, and families all over the walls. Once they were done, they got into their pajamas and got ready for bed. They began talking once they got into their beds.

"So Lily. What are you gonna tell James?" Laura looked at her curiously. Lina and Nikki rolled their eyes at her. They knew exactly what Lily was going to say.

"I'm going to say no of course. It's just a prank. The Marauders are just going to embarrass me in front of everyone. I mean, it's not like Potter actually means it." Lily scoffed.

At this Laura and Nikki glanced at each other. Laura had stayed over Nikki's house for a week over the summer and during that time, they had actually got to know the Marauders a bit. They still hated them but they had found that James actually did like Lily quite a lot. Since third year in fact. The boys hadn't told them of course; the girls had been spying on them when the conversation of liking Lily had come up.

But they had been just as surprised as Lily and Lina that he even asked for her to go out with him.

Laura decided to go out on a limb and quietly said, "I don't know Lily. I think he might have meant it." Nikki nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Who knows?"

Lily looked at her two friends like they each had grown two heads. "You've got to be kidding me right?"

Lina looked thoughtful. "Actually Lily, now that they mention it, James isn't as bad as you make him. He offers to give me advice all the time during quidditch…"

"Whatever. I'm going to bed now."

The next morning, Lily woke up first. Quietly as not to wake her friends, she took a shower and got changed into her school robes. Then, she went to wake the others. Laura and Nikki were no problem; Lina on the other hand was proving to be a little difficult…

"I don't wanna get up!" Lina screamed and went under her bed, falling asleep under it within a few seconds.

Nikki and Laura looked at each other. Nikki quietly went to the door and "knocked" on it. Laura got up and "answered" it exclaiming loudly "Oh! Hello JUSTIN! Here to see Lina? Well, I'm afraid she's still asleep but I'll tell her you came by." Lina quickly rolled out from under the bed fixing her messy hair. "I'M UP! I'M UP!" Nikki, Laura, and Lily started cracking up. Lina looked confusedly (A/N: is that even a word…? O well) and didn't see Justin anywhere. She then realized what they had just done.

"You're so mean…" She glared at them. They just kept laughing. "…which is why I'll be taking the bathroom now!" she said quickly and grabbing her clothes, ran into the bathroom locking it behind her. Nikki and Laura stopped laughing instantly and ran towards the door banging on it.

"LINA!" "LET US IN! YOU TAKE FOREVER IN THE BATHROOM!"

You could hear Lina laughing through the door way. "Not my problem!"

30 minutes later……………

Lina came out of the bathroom humming to herself with her hair in a pony tail and a little bit of make up. Nikki and Laura came running up to her.

"LINA! Now me and Nikki only have 10 minutes to get ready!"

"Well, you should've thought of that before you played that trick on me you evil little crabs." (A/N: Told ya she was crazy. Refer to Ch.1)

Nikki just rolled her eyes. "Whatever. We're just wasting more time yelling at each other." Nikki then went into the bathroom and came out 5 minutes later letting Laura run in.

When Laura came out and finished getting ready, the girls ran to the Great Hall for breakfast. However, they were stopped in the common room by a certain trio of boys.

The Marauders.

The girls glared at them while the boys just ignored them. (A/N: the glares, not the girls)

"Ah! Good morningeth to thou fair maidens! How areth thou?" asked Sirius.

The girls responded by rolling their eyes and walking past them. However, the girls were stopped once again by James standing in front of Lily.

"What do you want Potter?" Lily asked hotly, although she already knew what he wanted. James gave her one of his award winning smiles which went unnoticed by Lily.

Ignoring this, James reminded her," About last night. What will it be?"

"What do you think?"

James smile grew a little. "Yes, you'll go with me to Hogsmeade?"

Lily stared back at him. "No. More like, never in a million years."

And with that, she went around him with her friends right behind her, leaving a slightly hurt James.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by Sirius. He gave James a sympathetic look. "Sorry mate."

James quickly regained himself and shrugged. "Oh well. Maybe next time."

Remus gave him a confused look. "Next time? You mean you're going to ask her again?"

"Of course I am. I wont stop till she says yes." James replied cheerfully.

Remus shook his head in exasperation. "One of these days, you're going to get yourself killed."

This warning went unnoticed by James who, by this time, was wrestling Sirus to the floor of the common room for one reason or another. Remus rolled his eyes and walked out the common room to get some breakfast.

'My friends can be SOOO idiotic sometimes…'

That night, Lily flopped onto her bed exhausted. The first day back had been very hectic as usual. And it hadn't helped when the Daily Prophet had come and announced the Lord What's-His-Name had attacked another innocent family. These attacks had begun last year towards the end of May and the Ministry hadn't stopped them yet.

Lily sighed. 'At least my family is safe…He's only been attacking pure-blood families and he doesn't even know anything about me.'

Throughout the day, Lily and her friends had gone through their schedules. They were in almost all the same classes and couldn't be happier! Though, unfortunately the Marauders were in almost all their classes too. All day, Lily could feel Potter's stare. It had very nerve wracking.

Other than that, the day had gone by quite slow. All the classes had been just telling them what to expect throughout the year and what to bring and blah-blah-blah.

She had rushed through her dinner, wanting to get back to the room to start on some light reading on subjects they would do this following year. Her friends had decided to take their time, seeing no reason why they should rush through dinner just to be prepared for something they would learn in a few months.

An hour later, Lily could hear yells and cheers coming down from the common room. Curious, she put her book aside on her side table, got up, and went down the stairs to the common room. Lily came across Lina and Sirius yelling things to each other separated by a line. Almost all the boys were on Sirius' side and almost all the girls on the Lina's.

"Well yo mama's so poor, I walked into your house, stepped on a penny and she yelled 'Get off paycheck'!"

"Yo mama's so fat, every time she wears high heels, she strikes oil!"

"Yo mama's so ugly, I went to a haunted house and saw her coming out with a job application!"

"Yo mama's so stupid, she ordered her sushi well done!"

Lily just stared at the site of two 16 year olds yelling back and forth 'Yo mama' jokes and the people on each side rooting them on. She saw Remus by the wall and went up to him. "What the hell is going on?"

Remus glanced at her. "Apparently, Sirius over heard Lina joking around and challenged her to a joke off. Lina couldn't say no and now, I'm stuck being the judge."

"Oh…" Lily stared as the two kept throwing jokes at each other.

"Oh really? Well yo mama's so old, she took her driver's test on a dinosaur!"

That one ended it and Remus declared it was a tie between Lina and Sirius.

Sirius ran over to Remus not noticing Lily and started fake crying. "NO! I never lose! I wanna win Moony! I wanna win!"

Lily took this chance to slip away to where Laura and Nikki were standing by the fire. Remus gave her a 'help me' look as Sirius started hugging him and asking why he hadn't won. Lily gave him a 'sorry your on your own look' and made her way over to Laura and Nikki.

"Sirius, good job!" Lina came running over to Sirius. "Though next time I'm joking around with my friends, don't make a contest out of it." She gave him an exasperated look.

"But then, how else are we going to entertain the entire Gryffindor tower?" Sirius joked and put on a pout.

Lina and Sirius both thought for a second and then smiled big smiles.

Lina smiled mischievously. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If it involves the astronomy tower or the Great Lake, I'm in." Sirius' smile widened as well as Lina's.

"Friday. After dinner. Meet here."

"Oh. You're on." And after giving each other smug looks both turned around to go back to their own groups.

As soon as Lina was , Lily just stared at her and said to Nikki. "How much sugar did she have at dinner? As in, DESSERT?"

Nikki shook her head as they continued to watch a laughing Lina with some 7th years. "I lost count after the third piece of apple pie with vanilla ice cream and two dozen cookies she had."

Laura shook her head. "This is going to be a long night…"

**How was it? This is my longest chapter yet! Remember, I appreciate all reviews! And thanx again to everyone who got me to continue:)**


	5. The Great Lake and a Date

**Hello my fellow readers. I apologize for the long wait. School has been HELL! (And it's only the 3rd week…yippee…) I hate High SCHOOL! I HOPE IT BURNS AND DIES! Ugh…anywho, thanx to the reviewers! You know who y'all are. :) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the original series Harry Potter but I do own Lina, Laura, Nikki, and Justin.**

It was Friday after dinner when Lina and Sirius met in the Gryffindor Common Room. With all the Gryffindors there waiting anxiously to see what crazy thing they would do next, Sirius and Lina went to a corner of the room to talk about what they would do. 10 minutes later, they came to the center of the crowd with big smiles on their faces.

"Well? What are you going to do?" One 1st year asked.

"We're going swimming in the Great Lake."

Know everyone knew they were crazy. The Great Lake was FREEZING! Even on the warmest days of the year, it was at least 15 degrees. (A/N: In Fahrenheit. I don't know Celsius sry :) Also, I know I'm exaggerating but still…)

"Lina! C'mon! Don't be stupid!" Laura yelled at her worriedly. "You'll die of the cold!"

Actually," Nikki interrupted. "She wouldn't die. She would just get extreme hypothermia." This only got Laura more panicked. "Oh! JUST GREAT! THAT'S TOTALLY SOO MUCH BETTER!"

Lily sighed. "Laura, calm down. If Lina wants to do something, we have every right to let her. Even if it's THE MOST- STUPIDEST- MOST REARTED THING EVER!" Lily screamed and everyone looked at her. She blushed slightly. "Sorry…"

Lina shook her head. "Listen guys. I'll be fine. Me and cold are best friends. I mean, remember the times I've gone outside in the snow barefoot or in shorts and a tank top?"

The three girls nodded. "Well, I'll be fine. I promise."

Meanhwile, the Marauders were talking to Sirius...

"Padfoot. Who's idea was it to swim in the Great Lake? I'm warning you now, you shouldnt do it."

Sirius put his hands up. "Don't look at me Moony. It was all Lina!"

Remus shook his head. "Don't say I didn't warn you..."

Suddenly they all heard a voice yell, "...THE MOST- STUPIDEST- MOST REARTED THING EVER!"

Eveyone, including the Marauders turned to Lily. "Sorry..."

Turning back, the Marauders looked at each other. Peter suddenly asked, "Do you think Lina's friends are upset?"

Sirius rolled his eyes and just walked away with James and Remus, leaving a confused (and STUPID!) Peter standing there.

20 minutes later, everyone was at the Great Lake watching as Sirius and Lina took of their sweatshirts and sweatpants revealing bathing suits. (A/N: If you want to know what the bathing suits look like for some odd reason, Sirius' plain blue and Lina's a black and purple one piece.)

"Okay people. We're gonna see who can stay in longer. The gorgeous and smart Lina or me. The smoking, hot, and sexy Sirius Black." Cheers came for both of them from everyone.

Someone yelled out, "What happens to the loser?"

"Good question. Um…What do you think Lina?"

"We should decide after the loser gets out of the water." Sirius nodded. "OK. Any more questions?"

When everyone just remained quiet, Lina and Sirius looked at each other and each went to the edge of the lake. On the count of three, the two jumped in the freezing water of the Great Lake.

As the two came up to the surface, cheers came from the crowd. Knowing that she should move to keep the blood circulating, Lina began swimming around. Sirius just stood there. (Idiot…)

10 minutes later, Sirius was shivering with his lips blue while Lina swam around perfectly fine. Seeing this, Sirius finally got the idea and began copying her moves.

Another 10 minutes passed and the two were still at it though starting to tire. Lily was starting to wonder if this was ever going to end. Some students had left because of the cold but there was still more than half he Gryffindors waiting.

Then, a scream came.

Everyone saw as Lina was struggling to stay above the water as something was pulling her under. It couldn't have been a mermaid. They weren't that mean. This left either the giant squid that wanted a new little friend to play with or a grindylow who wanted to drown someone.

As Lina struggled, the students were beginning to panic. Especially Laura, Nikki, and Lily.

Sirius quickly swam over to where she was but she was a good 20 twenty feet away from him and by the time he got to where she was, she had been pulled under. Taking a deep breath, Sirius went under and everyone waited for him to come back up. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sirius came up with Lina who was unconscious.

As they got to shore, the Marauders quickly took Lina from Sirius and laid her down. Remus, being raised with a muggle mother (A/N: He's half muggleborn from his mother and half wizard from his father), got down on his knees and started to do CPR.

As he was doing this, Peter had gotten a towel for Sirius while James conjured up a warming spell for him and all three of them were watching Remus anxiously. Lily, Laura, and Nikki were huddled around Remus, but not completely closed in. After a couple more breaths, Lina woke up and sitting up coughed up a bunch of water.

Everyone came running towards her but Nikki put her hand up. "Stop. Give her some air."

Listening to her, everyone backed away to give Lina air to breath. After a couple more coughs, Lina finally stopped and looked up at everyone. "Hey guys."

The girls quickly started yelling at her. "DON'T YOU 'HEY GUYS' ME!" "LINA! THAT WAS THE MOST IDIOTIC THING EVER!" "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE WERE!" And so on.

Lina sighed. "You guys. You can yell at me tomorrow. Right now I just want to go to the dorm and go to sleep." Lina stood up but was a little shaky. Everyone rushed towards her to try to steady her but she quickly waved them off. "I'm fine." Laura handed her a towel to dry herself off. As Lina began walking to the castle, the other girls followed wanting to watch their best friend to make sure she didn't fall and Nikki carried Lina's clothes.

Stopping suddenly, Lina turned around towards Sirius and smiled. "Guess you won this time, didn't you Sirius?"

Before he could say anything, she turned around and continued walking to the castle.

"Okay folks. Shows over. Back to the dorms."

As Remus was herding the crowd back to the castle, James went over to Sirius.

"You alright mate?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine…"

"So, did you see what was pulling her down? It was a grindylow wasn't it?"

"I couldn't get a good look. It was a nit dark down there."

"Oh. Right…" James grinned sheepishly. Noticing that Sirius wasn't acting all cheerful, James came up with a brilliant idea. "Hey. What do ya say we go sneak into Hogsmeade and go get us a couple butterbeers?"

That got Sirius happy again. "Yeah. And lets go prank Snivellus. I think we could all use a few laughs tomorrow."

With that, the Marauders were off to Hogsmeade to drink some nice butterbeer and to prank a nasty Slytherin with greasy ugly black hair.

"Honestly guys. I'm fine!" These were the words that were continuously coming out of Lina's mouth the next day. She understood her friends were worried about her, but they were seriously overreacting! They kept feeling her forehead, insisted that she drink plenty of liquids and that was fine.

But now! NOW they wanted her to not go to QUIDDITCH PRACTICE! They were absolutely BONKERS for even suggesting it!

"But Lina-"

Lina cut Laura off and with her broom in one hand and the other hand on her hip, she gave them a firm look.

"I'm going to practice. It's the first one of the new year and I'm going. I'm perfectly fine. I haven't collapsed or sneezed or coughed once today."

"But-"

"NO!"

Lina walked past them and exited out the portrait, and made her way down to the quidditch pitch.

'Crazy…they're crazy…'

A voice brought her out of her thoughts. "Hey Lina."

Lina turned towards the voice (or rather jumped) and saw Justin leaning against the wall looking absolutely GORGEOUS!. "Oh. H-hey Justin." She said nervously.

He glanced at her broom and looked back at her. "Quidditch practice?" He asked with a small smile.

Lina just nodded. Justin walked up to her. "I'll walk you there."

Together, the two began walking down towards the Entrance Hall.

"I heard bout what happened last night. Sounded awesome. You okay?"

Lina blushed slightly. "Oh. You know about that?"

Justin nodded. "Yeah. Practically the whole school knows. Word gets around quick here. But are you sure your okay? Word is you were dragged under by a grindylow."

Lina shrugged. "I was unconcious for a few minutes but, I'm still here." She looked down to the floor. 'Oh god…he probably thinks I'm such a loser."

"You always do such crazy things." This interrupted her thoughts and she looked up at him. He continued. "Everyone knows you as the girl who's not afraid to show who she is. You're always so happy. That's what I like about you."

Lina stopped and watched as Justin kept going. 'Did he just say…he LIKED me!' Lina quickly caught up to him. "W-what do you mean by that?"

By this time they were at the Entrance Hall right next to the big open doors revealing a nice warm sunny day outside.

"Well, I'd like it if you would go out with me sometime."

"Ummm…uhh…"

Justin shrugged. "It's ok if you don't want to answer me. Just let me know by the next Hogsmeade weekend." He began to turn around but was stopped.

"I'll go. I'd love to." Lina said with a small smile on her face.

Justin smiled. "Great. So we'll meet out here on the next Hogsmeade weekend at eight."

"Sounds great."

The two went their separate ways. Justin back to the Hufflepuff common room and Lina to quidditch practice. Lina jumped on her broom and flew high up and did a flip and a bunch of complicated moves. She laughed as she flew. She was so happy! Justin Michaels had just asked her out!

Lina then remembered she had Quidditch practice. She was late! Lina sped off to the pitch with a big smile on her face.

**How was it? My longest one yet! I felt guilty for leaving you for so long. I hope it was ok:) Please let me know. And you can yell at me too! I deserve it… Laters!**


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